Explaining the Clinton-Collins Example

Apr 30, 2013

RUSH: Well, it hasn’t vanished, even though the caller hung up. We had a guy from Chicago that was really mad at me because I linked Clinton’s behavior with Lewinsky with the gay basketball player, which makes me a homophobe. People do not listen, and they do not hear. That’s not what my point was. I will make it again for the purposes of expression, communication and clarity when we come back.

BREAK TRANSCRIPT

RUSH: I’m actually glad this guy called. He hung up. He was guy named John from Chicago. Snerdley told me he was really ticked off. He wasn’t very happy. He was angry that I had linked Bill Clinton’s immoral behavior with Monica Lewinsky with Jason Collins. Folks, those of you who are regular listeners here know how to listen to this program and you understand context. Plus you’re not knee-jerk. You’re intelligent, and you know exactly what I was saying.

I wager this guy John is typical of practically every knee-jerk, reactionary liberal listening to this program. He either purposely misunderstood in order to call here and try to mischaracterize, or else didn’t get it. My point was very simple: If a celebrity’s private life is so important, why didn’t we celebrate Clinton’s serial adulteries and sex with interns? When Clinton’s sex came along, it was his sex life, and it was defended. Nobody said it was immoral, John.

The people on the left said it was no big deal, none of our business. We shouldn’t pay any attention to it. It didn’t affect Clinton’s job, didn’t affect his leadership, didn’t distract him. The sex pervert was Ken Starr! Everybody concerned about whether or not Clinton had lied under oath about it to a grand jury was a sex pervert. The Clinton team had a search-and-destroy mission, and they targeted anybody who tried to say that what Clinton did as president in the Oval Office was immoral.

The left would not admit that Clinton did anything wrong! The left didn’t say that what he did was immoral. They said it wasn’t any big deal. In fact, they said it wasn’t even sex, if I remember. (Clinton impression) “It wasn’t sex. I — I — I never had sex a single time, not — not — not — not with that woman. I didn’t have sexual relations. It wasn’t sex. You can’t say that’s sex.” All right, then what’s the big deal? My point, John, and the rest of you, is that Jason Collins comes out and we’re supposed to take note.

We’re supposed to celebrate, and we’re supposed to make a big deal of it, and we’re supposed to say, “What a great country!” And we’re supposed to all acknowledge that this is the biggest thing that happened in America yesterday. But when Bill Clinton engages in private sex and people find it, eh, a little problematic? “Nothing to see here. Shut up!” I think it’s clear what I was doing. I was pointing out the hypocrisy, as I always do on this program, of the Democrats, the hypocrisy of the media, the hypocrisy of the left.

I wasn’t equating anything, other than media treatment. It’s pure politics, John, and all the rest of you who wanted to hear me say what you thought and hoped I’d said but I didn’t say. It’s pure politics, and Bill Rhoden gave up the ghost. Bill Rhoden. Grab sound bite number four. Let him say it. He’s African-American. He’s a columnist at the New York Times.

Norah O’Donnell was terribly worried that Jason Collins may never work in the NBA again because he came out — and because he’s 36 and because he scores 1.1 points a game, because he’s not a starter, and because he played in six games last season. Six! The NBA has an 82-game regular schedule. He played in six of ’em. Norah O’Donnell is very, very worried that Jason might not get a gig. It’s so unfair.

RHODEN: Right now I think they’re great. Because all of a sudden now it’s become a political thing where he may not have been — had a job, but I think now it’s almost like, you know what, some team — and I think David Stern is going to get involved in this. He’s got to be playing somewhere next year.

RUSH: “He’s got to be playing somewhere next year.” He’s got to be! It’s political, which is my only point, John. I wasn’t equating what Clinton did with whatever Jason Collins is. I’m simply talking about the inconsistent, hypocritical media treatment of this. I’m just saying: If somebody’s sex life is so defining and so important that it has to lead the news and be all over every Internet website, then why wasn’t Clinton’s?

Why did they go to great lengths to hide that and to shut everybody up, and everybody who wanted to talk about it was a sex pervert? You people on the left, you’ve had it too easy. You get it every way you want it every time. You can’t have it all three ways all the time, at least not on this program, despite what you want.

BREAK TRANSCRIPT

RUSH: Okay, grab sound bite 25. Bill Clinton this morning in Washington, Georgetown University, and he’s still making Ken Starr jokes. I mean, right on schedule.

CLINTON: There was a hilarious cartoon that appeared in many newspapers in America at the end of my — middle of my second term when I was in a long-running battle with Republican special counsel, Kenneth Starr. So in this cartoon I’m talking to the president of China, Jiang Zemin, and I said, “You know, you ought to allow more political liberty. In our country these people you keep putting in jail, they’d be out there speaking on the street corner.” He said, “Yeah, and in our country, Kenneth Starr would be in jail making tennis shoes.” (laughter)

RUSH: So even after all of this time, this guy still can’t get over it. So my point, Ken Starr was the pervert. It was Clinton who ruined a woman’s life, an intern, Monica Lewinsky, ruined her life. He’s a hero for it. But we weren’t supposed to talk about it. Sex, nobody’s business, didn’t affect his job, everybody does it. It was just BJs, it wasn’t even sex. Ken Starr was the pervert. And here’s Clinton, goes out and celebrates Jason Collins yesterday coming out, and today he’s in Georgetown and he has to make a joke: Even a ChiCom says, yeah, you might have freedom. In our country, Ken Starr would be in jail making tennis shoes.

I’m here to tell you this guy still hasn’t forgotten it. He still hasn’t gotten over it. He’s still bitter about it, and Starr didn’t do anything. Remember that parody we did, Larry King interviewing Carville and Ken Starr? Carville says (imitating Carville), “He’s a space alien, Larry. He’s a space alien from Mars. He came here to get your kids smoking tobacco and destroy our president.” Larry King says, “Ken, are you really from Mars?”

“Larry, come on.”

“He’s not only from Mars, he’s trying to get all of your kids smoking cigarettes and tobacco products. He’s out to destroy our president and kill your children.”

“That’s an awfully serious charge, Ken Starr. Are you really trying to get kids on cigarettes?”

“Larry, come on. I’m simply –“

“And not only that, I’ll tell you what else, Larry, this man is actually a pervert. He’s a sex pervert, Larry. He’s out to destroy our president.”

“Scintillating charges from James Carville. Thanks for being with us tonight on Larry King Live,” blah, blah, blah, blah. We made a parody out of this. Clinton committed perjury in a sexual harassment case. He was the sexual harasser. He committed perjury, and he’s telling jokes about how some ChiCom leader is reassuring him that Ken Starr would be in jail making tennis shoes. Talk about perverts.

BREAK TRANSCRIPT

RUSH: Let me tell the ChiCom leader what our system does. Bill Clinton was held in contempt of court, and he was disbarred for what he did, and he could have been in jail making license plates. He could have been in jail making tennis shoes. He was disbarred, Mr. ChiCom leader. (Clinton impression) “Ha! I was talking to the ChiCom guy, Zhang Xiaoping, whatever his name is, and he told me in his country Ken Starr be an ass, too. They wouldn’t put up people like Ken Starr in the ChiCom society, just like we wouldn’t put up with him here.” Anyway, talk about being stuck in the past. Talk about being an old fuddy-duddy, old-fashioned. Bill Clinton is stuck back in 19-years-ago history. I wonder if they gave him free birth control while he was there at Georgetown University.

They are known for that at Georgetown.

They give it away to anybody who wants it.

“I wonder if Clinton got as much as he needed, ha-ha, on his way out.”